Klarinet Archive - Posting 000932.txt from 1998/05

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] intonation in large groups
Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 23:13:11 -0400

On Sat, 16 May 1998, Carl Schexnayder wrote:
> Comment: I was of the opinion that, to be classified as a "Wind Ensemble",
> a group must have a specific instrumentation. Aside from smaller wind
> groups, which have a non-standard instrumentation as called for by the
> composer, a standard full "Wind Ensemble" would have the following
> instrumentation: basically one on a part with the exception of 2 each First
> Flutes, First, Second and Third Bb Clarinets, 2 First Trumpets, 2
> Tubas. This is what is required for high school groups in my state,
> Louisiana, and I thought that had been pretty much accepted at one time, the
> idea being that composers would have a universally applied standard instead
> of having to wonder what kind of instrumentation various groups would use
> when performing their works.
>
> I have, of course, noticed that many groups that are called "Wind Ensembles"
> have a different instrumentation than this. Does anyone know of a ruling on
> this, (not that it matters that much if noone follows it)?

There is not any "ruling", but a bit of history may help. Fredrick
Fennell created a wind group that featured one-to-a-part
playing....excepting some clarinets and flutes. He called it a wind
ensemble, and it was featured prominently on the Mercury LP's that you
see on CD now........with the Eastman Wind Ensemble. However, the
technical definition of a wind ensemble is any ensemble
made up of wind instruments.........excluding of course strings and
percussion. That definition has tended to be used very flexibly with
Fennell's label within the last twenty years or so.

Roger Garrett
IWU

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